Caption: (Left to Right) Sister Elaine Fischer, OSB from Mount St. Scholastica Monastery in Atchison, KS, Election Facilitator, Sister Mary Catherine Wenstrup, outgoing prioress of St. Walburg's Monastery, Sister Aileen Bankemper, OSB, newly-elected prioress (center in purple), Sister Susan Quaintance, OSB, Election Facilitator, and Sister Lynn Marie McKenzie, OSB, of Sacred Heart Monastery in Cullman, Alabama, President of the Federation of Saint Scholastica (right).
This past weekend Sister Susan Quaintance, OSB along with Sister Elaine Fischer, OSB, from Mount St. Scholastica Monastery in Atchison, KS facilitated the election and discernment process of the prioress for the Benedictine Sisters of St. Walburg Monastery-Covington, KY.
Caption: (Left to right) Sister Elaine Fischer, OSB, from Mount St. Scholastica Monastery in Atchison, KS and Sister Susan Quaintance, OSB.
Sister Susan shares, "Benedictine women have been using a discernment process for the election of leadership since the early 80's. I don't facilitate at a ton of discernments, but I've done some (Sisters Benita Coffey, Patricia Crowley, and Judith Murphy have also facilitated). After the community writes direction statements, they discern who among them might be best able to lead them in carrying the goals out." After a period of Discernment, the Benedictine Sisters of St. Walburg Monastery elected Sister Aileen Bankemper as prioress.
The Benedictine Sisters of Chicago will be having the next discernment a year from now, in April of 2019.